Saturday, April 20, 2013

Cold Spring

If you think it seems like we have been perpetually stuck in early March this year, you are not alone. It has been consistently cold here for quite a while and other than green grass, it's hard to find a sign of spring here in east central Nebraska. However, this is not the case in all of the Midwest. Most of the eastern corn belt/ lower Midwest have had somewhat typical spring temperatures. But if that makes you jealous, just consider that we could be in North Dakota. Grand Forks has still not managed to crack 40F this month.

Anyway, given the relatively persistent pattern the past few weeks, two things stand out in Big 10 country: a) the unusually high rainfall totals in some places and b) the temperature difference across the conference. First the rainfall, which has been excessive in much of Iowa, northern Illinois, and northern Indiana. Top 4 rainfall totals this month (as of 18 April):

All of the above locations, except East Lansing, have had measurable snow multiple times this month. The Twin cities has had over 13 inches of it! As mentioned earlier, some places in the conference have had a decently warm April. Here are the top 4 average temperatures for April (through 18 April):

If we consider the D.C. area for U of Maryland, the numbers in Indiana and downstate Illinois wouldn't look quite as impressive as they have had multiple days in the 80's and hit 90 a week ago. So there has been warm weather, just not around here. But never fear, a cold spring in the western Corn Belt is not indicative of a cool summer.